Japanese Pension Refunds

Employees in Japan are required to pay a contribution into a pension insurance fund out of their wages. Contributions are usually 11% of your salary, depending on whether you are paying into the Government's National Pension Scheme or your employer has a private social insurance plan. If you're a foreigner working in Japan, you can apply for a pension refund once you leave the country. You are entitled to a pension refund from Japan if:

You're not a Japanese citizen

You paid national pension insurance for more than six months

You left Japan permanently less than two years ago

You submitted an address change report to the local Japanese city office and left Japan with a valid re-entry permit.

You can also reclaim the 20% tax charged on the Lump-sum withdraw. What’s more, the pension insurance reimbursement is not subject to withholding income tax. However, when the social insurance office (Japanese Pension Service) reimburses your pension payments, it deducts 20% income tax on the refunded amount. Once you receive your refund, we can claim that tax back for you as well.

Japanese Pension Refund FAQs

?I paid into a pension fund – can I get a refund from that?

Yes! The majority of people pay into a pension fund and we can claim a tax refund for this up to two years after you've left Japan.

?Am I eligible for a pension refund from Japan?

You'll qualify for a pension insurance refund from Japan if:You're not a Japanese citizenYou paid national pension insurance for more than six monthsYou left Japan less than two years agoYou don't have a place of residence in JapanGet a FREE online refund estimation today to see how much cash you could get back!

?What do I need to apply for a pension refund?

To apply for your pension refund from Japan, we'll need a copy of your pension book (nenkin techo) or pension number.

?What if I’ve lost these documents, or I never got them?

If you're missing documents, just email japan@taxback.com to let us know and we'll get your documents for you.

?I was charged 20% tax on my pension refund - why?

Because the Japanese Insurance Agency deducts 20% worth of tax from your pension reimbursement.

?How long will it take to receive my Japanese pension refund?

The total estimated time for your Japanese pension rebate is six months excluding delivery time of the refund, but we will call you to inform you when you can expect it in your bank account.

?How do I know what’s happening with refund?

You can watch the progress of your refund on your online Tax Tracker account - It'll go something like this:

We receive your documents.

We check over everything, estimate your refund, complete your forms and send them to the social insurance office. This takes around five days.

Once at the office, your application takes about six months to process, depending on how busy they are.

Don't worry - our team will keep chasing them up to see how your application is progressing.

Once we receive your refund, we’ll contact you immediately to organise the quickest way to get your refund to you.

?My refund seems to be taking a long time – where’s my refund?

The two most common reasons that your refund might be taking longer than expected is if;1. There are delays at the tax office2. The tax office demanded additional documentation from youIn the first case, we will chase up the tax office every other day to get them to speed up your refund. If the tax office wants additional documents from you, we will let you know ASAP, and can even find the documents for you if you want us to.

?What are the advantages of using taxback.com?

Thousands of people choose our service because:

You get the maximum legal tax refund possible

You get a free, no obligation online estimation from our FREE tax calculator, so you know roughly how much you should get back.

You get your own Online Tracking Account where you can track the progress of your application

We have Certified Public Accounts who are trained in tax law and will make sure your application is fully tax compliant.

?How much will it cost?

For Japanese Pension refunds we charge 20% of the refund received plus handling fee, subject to a minimum processing fee of 10757¥ + handling fee.Seeing how much you could get back is free though – just use our free, no obligation, tax calculator.

?Why the minimum fee?

The minimum fee enables us to offer you all of the services you need and value, such as round the clock support, tax training for your case manager so they can keep up with the latest tax laws in order to get you the maximum tax refund possible and maintaining your personal online Tax Tracker account.

?What is a pension book (nenkin techo)?

Your pension book is the small orange or blue booklet you received from your employer when you first arrived to work in Japan.To claim your Japanese pension insurance refund, we need your pension book (nenkin techo) and your pension number (which is in the book).Your employer may have held on to the booklet for you during your employment and should have given it to you when you left. If you don't have your pension book or number we can get it for you – just let us know you need us to.

?I worked abroad in other countries - can you help me to claim refunds from these countries?

Sure thing; click any of the countries below to claim a tax refund from that country.

If you've worked in a country not mentioned above, email our team on newtaxes@taxback.com to see what we can do for you.

?Can you guarantee that I'll receive the refund amount you estimated for me?

No, but we do guarantee to get you the most money back that we legally can.Our estimate is based on your documents and our experience in filing thousands of refund applications every week since 1996. The Japanese social insurance office has the final decision in your refund based on their systems and codes. Plus, when the social insurance office sends your refund, they deduct 20% income tax from the refunded amount. It may look like your refund is a lot less, but that’s because of this tax - we can claim that back for you later

The average Japanese Pension Refund is ¥102000

If you’ve worked in Japan, then you’ve had money put into the Government’s National Pension Scheme for you by your employer. The good news is that when you leave Japan, you’re entitled to claim it back. Customers who claim back their Japanese Pension refund payments with us get back an average of ¥102000, so it’s well worth checking how much you could get back. Many people don’t realise they can claim back their pension contributions, but we’re here to tell you, you can! Get started today.

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Useful Japanese Pension Facts

You will have contributed 11% of your salary into a pension fund – we can reclaim a portion of these contributions for you.

Taxback.com customers get an average Japanese pension refund of ¥102000

The average tax refund on the pension reimbursement payment is ¥55000

You have up to two years after you leave Japan to apply for your pension insurance refund. If you’re working in Japan this year, we can claim your pension refund once you leave Japan. If you’ve worked in Japan since 2011 we can claim your pension refund now.

You have up to five years to claim your pension reimbursement tax refund